Serena Williams Tops Jelena Jankovic to Win Family Circle Cup

Serena Williams defeated Jelena Jankovic, 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, in the Family Circle Cup final on Sunday.

Mic Smith / Associated Press

By BEN ROTHENBERG

April 7, 2013

DANIEL ISLAND, S.C. — In a match that featured a testy on-court exchange, Serena Williams recovered from a slow start to defeat Jelena Jankovic, 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, on Sunday for her third career title in the Family Circle Cup.

A year ago, Williams came to this tournament ranked 10th in the world, but she won in dominant fashion, dropping just three games in the semifinal and final combined. Since then, she has won Wimbledon, the United States Open and Olympic gold medals in singles and doubles, and reclaimed the No. 1 ranking.

Jankovic got off to the stronger start, weathering an early barrage of power from Williams and hitting the corners of the service box on her serve. After struggling to keep even through the first four games, including an 18-point second service game, Jankovic broke Williams at love to go ahead, 3-2. Four games later, with a signature backhand down the line, Jankovic broke Williams’s serve for a second time to take the first set, 6-3.

Jankovic seemed to be carrying her momentum into the second set, quickly going ahead by 40-15 on her serve in the first game. But as she began to serve for the next point, Williams put her racket up.

“You got to wait till I’m ready,” Williams said, irritated that Jankovic, who has a reputation for playing fast, had served quickly for a second time in the match.

Jelena Jankovic said she began to think too much about her pacing after her exchange with Williams and that it upset her flow for the rest of the match.

Mic Smith / Associated Press

“I don’t serve quick,” Jankovic replied. “How long do I have to wait?”

The two replayed the point, and Williams won it. Though she has sometimes been derailed by verbal exchanges, Williams won the next seven points and took a 2-0 lead. She went on to take the next four games, blanking Jankovic in the second set and sending the match to a third.

Williams acknowledged later that the conversation with Jankovic had helped her focus.

“I think after that I just got really relaxed,” she said. “And I was like, honestly, Serena, you got to kind of chill out and not get crazy. And just, if you win, great. If not, you’re trying. She’s playing really well, and just do the best you can today.”

She added: “There’s a couple of players on the tour that play really, really fast, and she happens to be one of them. So I just wasn’t ready. And I can’t be ready to play if I’m not ready.”

Jankovic admitted that she began to think too much about her pacing after her exchange with Williams, and that it upset her flow for the rest of the match.

“Maybe I lost my rhythm because I was maybe waiting for her to set up or whatever,” she said. “I have no idea what I was doing at the time, because when you get in the zone, you’re just serving and focused. And then all of a sudden, you’re thinking about her getting ready, and that’s not what I want to think about.”